Edinburgh Fringe 2023

First day at the Fringe for me today.

Hello Kitty Must Die- a musical based on the book (although I didn't know anything about the book or story before seeing the show). A couple of strong songs at the start and end, the rest were less impactful. Lots of humour around Chinese culture and stereotypes and some nice performances from the five women on stage, with some really quite impressive character performances. Good fun overall.

Public- a musical centred around 4 people locked in a gender neutral public toilet. The songs and vocal performances were really excellent- all four actors had lovely voices with some nice harmonies in the group numbers. The messages were important but I wondered if there were maybe too many- gender, mental health, climate change, poverty, acceptance. That aside, it's definitely worth seeing for the music and vocal talents and the audience loved it.

Six Chick Flicks... Or a Legally Blonde Pretty Woman Dirty Danced on the Beaches While Writing a Notebook on the Titanic- this was my absolute favourite of the day. Two performers parodying six chick flicks- as it says on the tin. It was hysterical and there were some moments where I was crying with laughter. Great comedic performances, well acted and some important observations throughout the comedy. My husband joined me for this one and thought it was great. Would highly recommend.

Day 1 at the Fringe looked like this.

Andy Bucks and Low Effort Sketches at Just the Tonic at the Mash House.

Cowboys and Lesbians at Pleasance Dome.

Showgirls and Spies at Pleasance Dome.

The Four Worst Things I've Ever Done at Underbelly Bristo Square.

The Death of Molly Miller at Underbelly Cowgate.

Lights Up! The Improvised Musical at theSpace on the Mile.

Cambridge Footlights: Leftovers at theSpace on the Mile.

Seven shows and not a dud among them. Highlights included:

Showgirls and Spies - a big return to form for Young Pleasance, telling the true story of Florence Waren's double life as a Jewish resistance fighter and showgirl during World War 2.

Low Effort Sketches - a great way to start the festival with a mix of standup and sketch comedy from a very likeable duo. Silly and fun and the sort of charming show the Fringe is all about.

Lights Up - an improvised musical set in a graveyard. The company's Fringe debut got off to a solid start and only got funnier from there, building to a rousing finale with an audience singalong!

Day 2.

My Dad Wears a Dress at Underbelly Cowgate.

Coffee Kid at Underbelly Cowgate.

Durham Revue: Death on the Mile at Underbelly Cowgate.

The Revel Puck Circus at Underbelly's Circus Hub on the Meadows.

Certain Death and Other Considerations at Zoo Playground.

Tartuffe, The Imposter: A Feminist Reimagining at theSpace at Surgeons Hall.

I Wish My Life Were Like a Musical at Gilded Balloon at the Museum.

The first two shows of the day - My Dad Wears a Dress and Coffee Kid - were both five stars for me and the early highlights of the festival.

In My Dad Wears a Dress, Maria Telnikoff takes a look back on her childhood growing up with a transgender parent. Frequently laugh out loud funny, this is a whirlwind, anarchic retelling of tales from Maria's school days.

In Coffee Kid, we meet Beanie. the love child of George Clooney and a Nespresso machine. The show follows the surreal adventures of its half human, half coffee machine protagonist. Síomha McQuinn has created a work of comic genius.

Ringer by Hughie Shepherd-across at the Underbelly Bristo Square was hilarious, dark, sharp writing and great performances. A great send up of Hollywood and scandal culture.

NorthernAlien the other 5 shows so far ran a few minutes over each, but nothing like the 45 minute delay yesterday. I'm doing the run to from the EICC later today. Yes, thank goodness for the trams (didn't think that was something I'd ever be saying in Edinburgh!!).

Day 3

Big Fish- Fairly reliable performance from the Royal Conservatoire. The live sound effects were a nice touch but it's a tricky show to stage, especially with limited resources at the Fringe. Nice performances from the male leads. Quite an emotional show, despite its limitations. Nothing ground breaking but an enjoyable way to pass a couple of hours.

Chris Grace: As Scarlett Johansson. A mix of humour, self-deprecation, emotion and messages about racism and hypocrisy. A strong one man show offering. He came out afterwards to meet people, for the fans in the audience.

Actually, Love- One of the two Theatre Goya shows at the Fringe this year. A two person musical which was well acted and sung. I enjoyed the messaging without feeling lectured. Some real humour as well as touching moments.

A Comedy of Operas- this one was just not for me. Five very talented opera singers but I couldn't find the comedy in it (all done through physical comedy). I had gone in expecting a fusion of opera and pop/rock, but it was mainly performances of well known arias with a couple of pop songs thrown in. I actually found it quite hard to listen to at times, with the power of the soprano voices together. The EICC was far from sold out so I'm not sure the lack of energy from the audience helped.

Anita Wigl'it: Funny Girl- Another poorly sold show, maybe a third full which was a shame. A few lip syncs, some silly crass comedy, costume changes and interaction with the audience. Then a heartfelt, emotional personal story followed by an extremely impressive musical performance that was a really touching surprise.

Showstopper! The Improvised Musical- another safe, reliable option at the Fringe. Great fun, funny and impressive as usual. Tonight's show was themed around a prison break.

Day 4.

Big Fish at Assembly Rooms.

Ants at theSpace on the Mile.

Ted Hill Tries and Fails to Fix Climate Change at Assembly George Square.

YUCK Circus at Assembly George Square.

Locomotive for Murder: The Improvised Whodunnit at Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose.

Bad Play at theSpace at Surgeons Hall.

And Then The Rodeo Burned Down at theSpace at Niddry Street.

Drop Dead at theSpace at Niddry Street.

Big Fish was a great way to start the day with another excellent production from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Plenty of the audience on their feet at the end.

Ants at theSpace on the Mile was one of those unexpected gems of the festival. Three junior employees are tasked with brainstorming ideas overnight for ways in which their company can increase its profits in the next year. The play for the most part is a riotous sendup of the business world. Barely a line goes by that doesn't generate laughs from the audience. The ludicrousness of the ideas, none of the employees really having the faintest clue what the company does, or what they even do within it, only adds to the farce of it all. The characters are well defined among the chaos and the ending is surprisingly heartfelt. It would benefit from a slightly longer running time, I believe this is an abridged version for the Fringe, but the potential in this graduate company from The University of Leeds is clear to see. Three terrific performances and a zinger of a script make for a hugely enjoyable 50 minutes.

Locomotive for Murder was a great improv show I'd happily revisit that really went to town on incorporating every little detail gleaned from several audience members.

Finally, with one of the cast indisposed, kudos to the team of Drop Dead for pulling out all the stops to go ahead with some last-minute changing of roles and the producer stepping in. It made for a pretty memorable performance last night, building to a finale with some of the funniest genuine corpsing I've seen on stage as the cast struggled to hold it together. As one of the company put it at the end, "Thanks for coming and for none of you walking out on whatever that was!"

Apparently, there are rules with the length of time for a musical at The Fringe.

I'm not sure exactly what those rules are however it's the reason that the musical Six (which I've yet to see) is very short in length. It's because it started at The Fringe.

I once had the displeasure of a full length production of Bare

Here are some short reviews of everything I saw at the Fringe this year

It's a Motherf**king Pleasure - Really enjoyed this, in my top 3 from everything I've seen. Funny satirical show about blindness and ableism. Highly recommend getting a ticket to this if you can.

35MM: A Musical Exhibition - Student production from the University of Nottingham. I like the score, but overall not the slickest, with some struggling to hit notes here and there.

Hunchback of Notre Dame - Pleasantly surprised by this. I knew it was a score I loved going in, but wasn't expecting the cast to have such fantastic vocals - especially Lewis Kerr who was Quasimodo. Also really liked Camila Lopez's Esmeralda, played very differently from other productions I've seen (and vocally maybe not quite as strong), but very endearing.

Drunk Woman Solving Crime - live podcast recording featuring special guest Mhairi Black. 'solving crime' is a bit of a loose interpretation of what they do, but still a fun show!

Priya Hall: Grandmother's Daughter - not a laugh out loud kind of stand up show, but still very enjoyable.

CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation - this one feels a bit hit or miss depending on what the audience suggest the occupation and murder weapon to be. The show we went to was decently funny, but the audience suggestions weren't the greatest base to start off with.

Cam Gavinski: Bonheur - very extreme opener which had me worried that the rest of the show would be like that, but thankfully it calms down a fair bit and becomes a lot more entertaining. Quite risqué and will probably not be for everyone, but we thought this was really very funny (and actually an absolutely mortifying story I would never want anyone to have happen to them).

Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder - Super fun show with a great score. Very slick and polished. Looking forward to seeing this transfer to London (hopefully!!)

Shamilton! The Improvised Hip Hop Musical - I quite liked this. It was really impressive what the cast were able to come up with on the fly. Would love to go back and see them do another celebrity.

We'll Have Nun Of It - booked this on a whim because I saw a recommendation further up the thread and I like actor musician shows, but didn't really enjoy this. The songs were mostly good and the singing and instrument playing were also pretty good, but I thought the story was quite weak and was a bit bored.

F*ckboy Fairytales - Play/story time vibes. Fairly simple, but a story I'm sure lots of us can relate to.

Vittorio Angelone: Who Do You Think You Are? I Am! - Another of my top 3 things that I saw at the Fringe. Genuinely one of the funniest sets I've seen. Big fan, highly recommend. (Although I know the show is sold out for the rest of the run I believe he's adding a few extra shows)

Hello Kitty Must Die - really didn't like this. The score was so-so, with some more catchy tunes than others, but I just didn't like the book or direction at all. I thought this was meant to be empowering Asian women, but the main character mainly just has things done to or for her. She complains about all these stereotypes and then mostly has a white man save her lol. The cast were also kinda meh for me.

-- So many more shows I wish I could have seen, but alas not enough time

Day 6.

Brave Space at Underbelly's Circus Hub on the Meadows.

Be Home Soon at Greenside Infirmary Street.

24, 23, 22 at Underbelly Cowgate.

Salomé at Bedlam Theatre.

Sanctuary at Underbelly's Circus Hub on the Meadows.

Marcus Brigstocke: Cheese and Whine at Pleasance Courtyard.

Bill's 44th at Underbelly Cowgate.

Wham Bam Thank You Mam at Just the Tonic at the Grassmarket Centre.

I started the day revisiting one of my favourite shows from last year's festival. Brave Space is a unique circus experience, with the audience gathering on the edges of the stage where the cast emerge from under a white canvas. The canvas is then raised into the air and the audience climb underneath and its in this intimate and unique setting that the show then takes place. The audience are sometimes standing, sometimes sitting down and at one point even lying down, as performers soar above our heads or perform within touching distance in the centre of the tent. It's a magical experience.

Bill's 44th is certainly a unique Fringe production. Described in the blurb on the Fringe website as a "puppet tragicomedy for adults", we're introduced to Bill on his 44th birthday as his plans to celebrate slowly unravel. The show is mesmerising without a word being spoken. It's both funny and sad, reflecting on loneliness, and becomes increasingly surreal as it progresses. Bill reminded me a little of a cross between Mr Bean and Unlucky Alf from The Fast Show! The most striking feature about this show was just how enthusiastic and engaged the audience were, cheering Bill on at every turn! All in all, the show provides a quintessential, one-of-a-kind Fringe experience!

The standout show from yesterday though has to be Be Home Soon at Greenside Infirmary Street. It's a beautifully told reflection on memories and what we call home. With a cast of three, we meet one character in two different scenarios, meeting a girl in an art gallery and moving to France with her four days later, and meeting another girl who's his new flat mate at the digs they happen to be moving into together in the UK. The two women never meet but the sequence of events and the mystery of what happened in France that brought Raf home is slowly unravelled. From this relatively simple premise, a moving story unfolds, often filled with humour. The characters here are so well drawn and likeable, the chemistry between the three performers so tangible, and the whole thing so enchantingly written and filled with such warmth, it packs quite the emotional punch as it reflects on the importance of savouring every moment of life. Ultimately, the play asks whether memories and dreams can be every bit as vivid and cherished as real life. A tender triumph.